Space Coast Stadium, filling up for today's home opener against the Mets.

VIERA, Fla. — It's a beautiful, if somewhat chilly, Saturday afternoon at Space Coast Stadium, and the crowd is beginning to file in for the Nationals' spring home opener against the Mets. Presumptive Opening Day starter John Lannan is on the mound for the Nats, Mike Pelfrey pitching for New York.

Pelfrey is one of the few legitimate Mets who made the trip. By my count, only nine players on their 40-man roster are here today, three of them pitchers. The Nats, meanwhile, will be sending out their first respectable lineup of the spring after sending mostly backups on the road.

"1:05 p.m. — The Nats take the field to the strains of John Fogerty's "Centerfield." First of 187 times we'll hear that song this season."Does that mean they're no longer going to be taking the field to fireworks at Nationals Park? Always thought that was rather pretentious and condescending of them to do that. Spending money on fireworks instead of players. How cheap can you get?

I've noticed the last two games have been carried on radio on the opponent's side. Why aren't the Nationals doing at least weekend games on radio? Would make for good background noise instead of insufferable college basketball games.

Chuckles: Charlie and Dave have been here the last couple days, but they're just doing research in preparation for their season debut on Monday. They'll have four games next week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. And MASN will be showing Strasburg's start Tuesday.

Mark: Like a lot of Nats fans, I'm curious as to how Adam Dunn looks at first. Does he look like he has improved? I'm not just talking about this game, but also in all the drills that you must have observed him taking.

Anon: "It's a beautiful, if somewhat chilly, Saturday afternoon…" Where was I complaining? This may be the nicest day we've had down here in two-plus weeks!HabProf: So far, so good with Dunn, but it's way too early to make any real evaluation of him in the field. Let me see him a bit more, get a few more chances, before declaring anything.

Hey, anyone who's upset that the Nats aren't on radio today should come on over and join me and my fellow Yankee fan FakeNeedham. We're watching MLB Network and catching up with our favorite team that's now featuring retreads from the team we love to hate. So far Zech Zinicola has sent his catcher to the hospital and Jonathan Albaladejo got lit up. You can take the boy out of NatsTown, but you can't take the NatsTown out of the boy!

Mark: Thanks. I recognized it was early (and for that matter, Dunn is still supposed to be a work in progress at first) – I just wanted early impressions. But I know what you mean when you say it is early. We are all falling all over ourselves with respect to Nats pitching, but (repeat after me) it is still early.I'll start worrying when a Nats pitcher stinks consistently for 3 or 4 consecutive starts.

Looks like the same crappy team as 2008 and 2009–lousy pitching, poor defense (Dunn) and no clutch hitting. The Nats follow the same pattern every year. They get creamed in the Grapefruit League, then carry over their losing habits to the regular season.

Two pitchers I'm most curious about are Thompson and Chico. Thompson's start today seems to have been encouraging. Of course, any pitcher that doesn't give up an immediate home run is probably considered encouraging at this point. I'm looking forward to "seeing" how Chico does tomorrow. He remains my dark horse favorite for the #5 spot, especially with how these first several games have gone!

Mark, do I start to get worried NOW?I'm worried Lannan is not a No. 1.I'm worried none of the young pitchers are ready.I'm worried Zimm and Dunn won't hit enough early.I'm worried the bullpen is still eligible to be a Superfund site.I'm worried they're going to go 6-and-24 in ST, and start the season 6-and-36.I'm just plain worried.

Mark, as President of NatsNation, you need to tell Frank that it's time to start checking the stands for pitching reinforcements. There are guys sitting there, only too willing to give up home runs and walks. Moreover they'll do it for free–won't cost him and the Learners any money! The management of the other teams might help kick in some bucks for uniforms.